Native Visions: Evolution in Northwest Coast Art, from the 18th Through the 20th Century by Steven C. Brown, Paul Macapia, Seattle Art Museum

From the Publisher

Masks, bowls, bentwood boxes, and weavings from Native artists of the Northwest Coast grace museums around the world. Northwest Coast art embodies a highly flexible tradition, reinterpreted by individuals in each generation, as is evidenced by artifacts collected from the area over the last two centuries. This richly informative book includes photographs of more than 160 objects from Seattle area private collections and the Seattle Art Museum, grouped chronologically to illustrate evolutionary changes within the Northwest Coast art tradition. This is a tradition of great antiquity which also remains vital and alive today in the work of the best contemporary Northwest Coast Native artists. Among the extraordinary artworks illustrated in Native Visions are archaeological artifacts and the earliest documented Northwest Coast objects, collected in the eighteenth century, along with numerous pieces by the nineteenth-century artist Charles Edenshaw, masks and totem pole models by Willie Seaweed, and an unusual gold sculpture by Bill Reid.

Library Journal

Sparkling with over 200 illustrations, 100 of them in color, of the magnificent art of Northwest Coast Native Americans, this book accompanies a traveling exhibition that originated at the Seattle Art Museum. Brown, associate curator of Native American art for the museum, is particularly interested in examining the chronology shown by changes in design forms. He traces the development of the consistent, dramatic style from the prehistoric era through the classic early 19th-century two-dimensional style to the current revival using variations on old themes. His emphasis on details of variation in design makes the text somewhat pedantic; he doesn't define much-used terms like formline and negative space, and he presupposes some knowledge of the culture's history, tribal customs, and mythology. But the art is breathtaking. For college or art libraries or those with collections of Native American materials.--Gay Neale, Southside Virginia Community Coll. Lib., Alberta

Booknews

Published in conjunction with the touring art exhibition of the same name originating at the Seattle Art Museum. B&w and color photographs of the pieces in the exhibition are accompanied by extensive essays commenting on the pieces and describing their historical context. The notes and sources lists give readers an idea where to go for additional readings on different cultures and works. 9x12<"> Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Product Details

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Table of Contents